Second Teen Charged In Gel Gun Attack On Jewish Man: Teaneck Police

TEANECK, NJ — A second teen has been arrested in what police said was a bias attack earlier this month, in which a Jewish man was shot with a gel gun.

Police said that three people were riding in a black sedan on March 8 when they approached a Jewish teen and asked whether he supports Israel or Palestine. Someone in the vehicle shot him more than 10 times with a pellet gun, police said.

Later that day, police traced the vehicle and arrested the driver, a 17-year-old from Teaneck, at his home.

Then, on Friday, Teaneck police said they had concluded their investigation and charged a second teen.

The initial suspect, who was not identified because of his age, was charged with bias intimidation, simple assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and harassment.

Deputy Chief Seth Kriegel said Friday that the second teen, who was the front seat passenger, was charged with simple assault, bias intimidation, conspiracy, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and harassment.

Kriegel said that the third juvenile was in the back seat, and there was no evidence to charge him with a crime.

He said that the same two suspects were connected to three other incidents in town earlier that day, in which someone shot a gel gun toward various other victims. There were no injuries in those cases.

'Israel Or Palestine?'

Police had said earlier that on the night of March 5, they responded to West Englewood Avenue on a report that a man had been shot with an “Orbeez-style” gel pellet gun.

A 19-year-0ld Teaneck resident, dressed in Jewish garb, told police that he was walking nearby when the black sedan pulled up and he was asked the question.

The victim did not answer and kept walking. Then, one of the people in the car "said something in what the victim believed to be Arabic" and fired a gel pellet gun at the victim, striking him, police said.

The sedan left, but the victim tried to follow it to determine where it was going, he said.

Later, he was walking in the area where he'd been shot earlier, and saw the sedan on Jefferson Street.

The car again stopped, and someone inside yelled for the victim to come over, he said. He didn't respond, but started recording with his cell phone, he said.

Then, "a male leaning out of the open passenger-side window fired numerous gel pellets at him as the vehicle drove eastbound on Ogden Avenue, striking him approximately ten times in the upper torso," police said.

The victim told police he was not injured.

Police found small orange gel beads on the ground, they said.

"These toy-style devices use a spring-loaded or battery powered electric mechanism to propel small water-absorbing gel beads through a barrel using compressed air," police said. "While often marketed as toys, these devices are capable of causing injury, particularly when fired at the face or exposed skin."

The suspects are awaiting hearings in Superior Court, Family Division, where the charges will be addressed, police said.

Teaneck is known as one of the most Jewish communities in New Jersey, with a population of approximately 40 percent. But it's also known as a diverse community, having had a Muslim mayor in the recent past.

The incident took place about a block from a local synagogue.

Anyone with information about this or another investigation is asked to contact the Teaneck Police Department at 201-837-2600 or Crime Stoppers. Tips can be made anonymously and confidentially on the group’s website at bergencrimestoppers.org or by calling 844-466-
6789, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for tips that lead to an arrest.

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